India pacer Harshit Rana reckons that game time in the ongoing Delhi Premier League has served as ideal preparation for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, starting on September 9 in the UAE.

While Rana was with the Indian Test team in England briefly after the India A shadow tour, he didn’t get chance to play a match. His last appearance for India was during the Champions Trophy 2025 in February.

“It is not at all that I have become out of practice. In the last 20-25 days, I have played 12-13 T20 matches. So, my practice is completely on because DPL (Delhi Premier League) was going on, before that our team's practice was going on.

"So that is a plus point for me that I am bowling well in the matches and overall performance has been good," Rana told PTI Videos.

Rana is excited about reuniting with Jasprit Bumrah, who has been included in the Asia Cup squad after playing three out of five Tests against England due to workload management.

“I can't tell you what Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) bhai brings to the table, playing with him is really special, he makes things easy for us. If he's around, the pressure on us is minimal.

"I try to stay calm, it's always pretty exciting to wear the India jersey and play…with kind of quality bowling unit we have right now is good. I try to give my best every time, not thinking much about the outcome,” he remarked.

Harshit Rana is unlikely to feature in India’s starter XI for the Asia Cup. Along with Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and all-rounder Hardik Pandya are expected to be part of the attack.

Rana made his T20I debut earlier this year as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube and went on to claim three wickets for 33 runs in India's win over England in Pune. In IPL 2025, the right-arm quick picked up 15 wickets in 13 games for KKR at an economy rate of 10.18 — numbers that have invited criticism over his Asia Cup inclusion.

(With PTI Inputs)